West Word for 01/25/2012
This Week’s Speaker: Career Day at Bishop Snyder - No meeting at the Quality Inn
The meeting length is not much different than a normal meeting, it’s just a little earlier in the day. The Interact pinning ceremony is optional, the official start of the meeting will be 11 AM.
Here is the schedule for Career Day:
10:30 Interact Pinning Ceremony
11:00 Rotary meeting with lunch
11:33 First Career Day Presentation
12:08 Second Career Day Presentation
12:43 All presentations completed and we are done
We will also have a special presentation at this meeting that you don’t want to miss.
Please see President Marshall’s email for talking points to assist in your presentations.
We have the finest Interact club in the world, and these kids put a lot of effort into this event.
RSVP to Patti if you will be able to make it.
Notes
Thanks to everyone who came out for the blessing of the new mobile health clinic.
President Marshall presented Jim Riggins with a Rotary Theme pin for his outstanding work with the dictionary project.
Upcoming Events
We’re having a Centennial Celebration with the Downtown club on Feb 13.
- Meeting on February 15 cancelled - Will need to make up
- Ham Cooke has details on the Centennial Gala scheduled for February 11
We are having a membership drive meeting on Feb. 29th at the Blue Fish Restaurant in Avondale at 5:30. All members are encouraged to attend a bring a prospective member with them.
RLI training on February 4. Great for new members. Please contact President Marshall or Patti if you are interested in attending.
Pop-Ups
Mike Corrigan reminded the club that there are many open classifications.
Tommy Platt reminded everyone that our charity grant applications are now available.
Frank Young reminded everyone that next Wednesday, Jan. 25th, is Career Day at Bishop Snyder High School.
Speaker
Club member Bud Para introduced our speakers, Christa Figgins and Cathy Para from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA).
Christa is the Development Director for JALA. Ms. Figgins graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in History in 1994 and from the Florida State University College of Law in 1998. Ms. Figgins joined the staff of JALA’s Clay County office in 1998, and later practiced in JALA’s main office as the program attorney for the Child Victim Rapid Response Unit and as a member of the Family Law Unit.
JALA provides free civil legal services to the poor and under-served. They serve the four county area with a staff of 80 employees that includes 42 attorneys. The served over 12,000 clients in 2011.
They currently receive approximately 110-150 applications for assistance per week.
The biggest area that they receive request for is those with Family law issues.
The have 46 funding sources that are primarily made up of competitive grants that must be re-applied for each year.
A study performed by Florida Taxwatch in February of 2010 on the total economic impact of civil legal assistance on the Florida economy produced the following results:
- Created over 3,300 jobs in the state
- Produced $250 million of output to the state economy
- Provided $297 million of disposable income
- Generated $4.78 of economic impact for every $1 spent on legal aid.
Cathy Para joined the JALA staff in 2009 to serve as the Pro Bono Development Coordinator. In the past, she served JALA as the pro-bono attorney representing clients seeking emancipation and is a recipient of the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Award. Ms. Para graduated with honors from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2000.
She said they have approximately 450 attorneys volunteering their time at one particular point in time. It sounds like a lot but they need 1,000.
The three main reasons attorneys are hesitant or nervous to do pro bono work are:
- Time constraints
- Professional liability concerns
- Fear they will do more harm than good.
Cathy pointed out that all pro bono attorneys through JALA are covered under JALA’s professional liability insurance.
JALA offers ongoing training for attorneys specific to the case needs of JALA. It’s a great training ground for new attorneys.
Our very own Marty Sacks has done pro bono work since 1958. He has received numerous awards through the state and from the Florida Bar Foundation.
Marty said a few words about the importance of pro bono work. He highlighted the Ask a Lawyer Program and the Military deployment program as two very interesting programs he has been involved in.
The message was that JALA’s outcomes benefit all of us. It’s the right thing to do and our society believes in it. Defending justice is in our constitution and our pledge of allegiance.
Christa and Kathy shared the following JALA info: jala-info and jala-info2
Quote of the Week
“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th president of the United States
Visiting Rotarians
Scott McEvoy from Stone Mountain, GA
David Dunlap from Ponte Vedra
Robert Harris from South Jax
Josh Zmroczek accompanied the speaker, Christa Figgins
Rotary Guests
Wally Barrs brought Tim O’Keefe
John Runion brought Lewis Mustryn (not sure about the spelling-couldn’t read the writing)
Robert Harris (South Jax Rotary) brought his law partner, Alan Rosner
Birthdays
Alberta Hipps - Jan 19
Wright Hollingsworth - Jan 20
Jimmy Overton - Jan 20
Ham Cooke - Jan 25
Next Meeting - Feb 01
Speaker - Matt Rapp/Curtis Hazel - TPC
Greeters: Dan Dodd and Michael Corrigan, Jr.
Invocation: Joe Myers
Pledge: Mike Harrell
Four-Way Test: Drew Story
Scribe: John Hulsey
Quick Links
You can now report make-ups online.
Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.
Remember to email your pictures to photos@westjaxrotary.org
You can “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here.
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/westjaxrotary
